Most Disappointed in an Athlete

i think i ve told this story on here before.

im about 11 years old, my pop took me to what used to be called the Kemper Open at tpc avenel.

i was hanging around right outside the players locker room. there was no one in the hallway, just an 11 year old kid sitting on the floor. some golfers come by after their round, i ask them to sign my program. they all do to varying degrees of niceness.

along comes payne stewart with his knicker-bockers and all. i ask him to sign my program. without looking at me or stopping walking, he takes the program, signs it as he continues walking away then throws it on the ground and enters the locker room.

See now that's a little different. That's an actual personal interaction with the guy.

If some random dude on the street bumped into you and didn't say sorry, you'd immediately think he's a jackass. And that's appropriate. Same thing with Payne. If he did that to you, I think you're legitimately justified in being disappointed in him.

What I struggle with is why anyone cares if Tiger Woods cheats on his wife, unless they know Elin or Tiger personally.

See now that's a little different. That's an actual personal interaction with the guy.

If some random dude on the street bumped into you and didn't say sorry, you'd immediately think he's a jackass. And that's appropriate. Same thing with Payne. If he did that to you, I think you're legitimately justified in being disappointed in him.

What I struggle with is why anyone cares if Tiger Woods cheats on his wife, unless they know Elin or Tiger personally.

Yeah I agree. Tiger is a good golfer, maybe the best. But just because of that doesn't mean he is some god. He's like a ton of other guys. Given open access to just about any hot chick in the world they'd all be cheating too. Who really cares? So he's a dog...it's not like he went and killed someone. Not that I don't "care" but it doesn't affect my admiration for him because my admiriation was for him as a golfer not for him as a person.

Yeah I agree. Tiger is a good golfer, maybe the best. But just because of that doesn't mean he is some god. He's like a ton of other guys. Given open access to just about any hot chick in the world they'd all be cheating too. Who really cares? So he's a dog...it's not like he went and killed someone. Not that I don't "care" but it doesn't affect my admiration for him because my admiriation was for him as a golfer not for him as a person.

i think we :bdh: in the tiger thread

Yeah I agree. Tiger is a good golfer, maybe the best. But just because of that doesn't mean he is some god. He's like a ton of other guys. Given open access to just about any hot chick in the world they'd all be cheating too. Who really cares? So he's a dog...it's not like he went and killed someone. Not that I don't "care" but it doesn't affect my admiration for him because my admiriation was for him as a golfer not for him as a person.

So how do you feel about OJ Simpson....

Seriously though, it's true that for some people it really doesn't matter at all. But I would believe that there are several people for whom it won't be the same to see Tiger win because their image of him has changed.

Still, I would agree that a personal experience would be more impactful. I mean Green has never done anything morally or legally wrong, but my personal interaction with him "hurt" more than hearing things about Kirby Puckett who I always considered a bit of an ambassador for the sport.

Maybe the thread question should have been "Have you ever had a disappointing experience meeting a pro athlete?" or something along those lines

I haven't met too many personally and really I don't think a lot about their personal lives. I think that something like your Mantle and Green examples would be some which I'm not too fond of, mostly Mantle. I'm sure that they get tired of the attention but they also signed up knowing that it was coming.

I'm really struggling to come up with a good case here, I definitely didn't like how Palmeiro was a rat though.

I think ESPN and all it's coverage of every athletes mistake/misfortune makes it that much worse.



I'll admit I was at the Bills game after Sean Taylors death and that video they put together to honor him was probaly one of the saddest things i've ever seen. I cried,just like the other 95,000 people that were there that day.

Dexter Manley and Gary Clark come into one of our restaurants pretty frequently. The other day I was up at the hostess stand of our Bethesda location checking something on Open Table, and this bimbo looking chick comes strutting in and says "Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders are on their way in for drinks, so I need you clear three spaces at the bar for us right away." Well, the bar was totally full at the time, so I told her we'd be glad to give them the next three spots that open up, but they'll have to wait to get a seat. She gave me this "WTF" kind of look and said, "well, then Gary and Ricky won't be coming in here." I just shrugged my shoulders, and she left. Granted that wasn't coming out of Gary or Ricky's mouth, but the fact that they'd send one of their tramps in ahead of time to clear out the bar shows that kind of entitlement. Sorry fellas, you're no different than John Doe when you're in my bar. Not a huge deal, but just an example.

I met AJ Pierzynski in Gainesville a few times. He's totally a dude's dude. Very cool, very talkative, and even did a few shots with me at the bar. (He's a huge Gator fan and his little brother goes to school at UF).

Yeah, I'm disappointed in Tiger only because I admired him for who he is as a person as well as a golfer. To couple the kind of success he has on the course with being a good father and husband is admirable. Obviously that's not the case anymore. But his transgressions haven't diminished how I feel about him as a golfer.

On the flip side, most people around here aren't too high on Clinton Portis. I think the dude is a diva with regard to the Redskins, but one of my closest friends ran into him and Santana at a Wizards game two years ago. He talked with CP for a good 5 minutes or so, and said he was totally cool, didn't act like big shit at all, and even let him get a few pictures. That kind of surprised me in a good way.

Whether we want to admit it, and whether it's right, we put pro athletes at a higher pedestal than we put even ourselves and expect them to be beyond reproach.

I have, I think, a bit of a unique perspective having been around pro athletes for much of the past decade on a daily basis. And I've told here about my personal experiences with Darrell Green and finding him to be less than the person I thought he was (still doesn't take away from what I think of him as a player or what he meant to Redskins fans). It was very disappointing, but in a way it was good because it was so early in my career that it prepared me moving forward. I should say I've been pleasantly surprised as well.

Anyway, my question is when have you been most disappointed with an athlete. And I'm not really talking about on-field performance. I'm talking about their actions off the field. Though if you want to include something like Palmeiro using steroids, that would count.

Was it finding out Mickey Mantle was an alcoholic who allegedly beat his kids, was it finding out Kirby Puckett was a womanizer who allegedly beat his wife, was it finding out Agassi was a druggie in his prime, was it finding out about Tiger, was it something else? Has it never happened? And maybe it was a college player, not necessarily an NFL player.

I don't.

I met AJ Pierzynski in Gainesville a few times. He's totally a dude's dude. Very cool, very talkative, and even did a few shots with me at the bar. (He's a huge Gator fan and his little brother goes to school at UF).

Kinda funny AJ is universally hated in MLB because he's a giant ass supposedly. Like he is the most hated player in the league.